Machine for producing water-mark effects on paper.



No. 852,788. PATENTBD MAY 7, 1907- E. ILCH. MACHINE FOR PRODUCING WATER MARK EFFECTS ON PAPER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16.1904

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED MAY 7, 1907. D

E. 1 MACHINE PORPRO UGING WATER MARK EFFECTS on PAPER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.16,1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 thou no. ssavsc.

fipecification of Letters ?atent.

Patented May 7, 1907.

Application filed September 16, 1904. Serial No. 224,669.

To (tZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD lLorr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elmhurst, in the city of N w York, county of Queens, and State of New York, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Producing Water-Hark Ehw feots on Paper, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming part of the same.

My invention relates to apparatus for protecting bills of exchange, checks, promissory notes, insurance policies, stocks, bonds, bank-notes, and paper or parchment writings of all kinds, by forming thereon by mechanical means characters indicating the value of the paper or the amount for which it is drawn; and the object of the invention is to produce an apparatus highly ellicient for this purpose, as well as simple in construction and operation, durable, and of low cost to manufacture.

The gist of my invention resides in the contrivance of an apparatus whereby the dcsired characters are impressed by means of types or dies upon the thin, hard, dry paper or the like usually employed for commercial purposes, with such great force as to render the paper translucent, the impressions so produced resembling watermarks. The apparatus may be constructed to enable any desired number or amount to be so im pressed, to agree with the' different face values orindividual notes, checks, or other writings. Marks of the kind described cannot be altered or and any attempt to do so leaves unmistakable evidence of tampering. The apparatus is moreover so -contrived that a smooth writing surface is left on the paper, so that it may, after having been impressed by my machine, be written over as freely as if the paper were entirely in its original blank condition. In addition, the characters so impressed may be of heroic dimensions, so as to occupy the body of the check or similar paper, and hence to be more or less covered by the written and printed characters thereupon, thus furnish- 111g even greater security, since any attempt to obliterate the translucent, characters would necessarily damage the inked characters thereon. I 1 The invention itself consists of'the' novel features of construction, arrangement as 7 parts, and combinations of elements herein after described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims. A. convenient embodiment is illustrated in the drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, showing the impression devices and the mechanism for actuating the same. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, at right angles to Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on line a::c, Fig. 1. Fig. is a sectional detail view, showing the oporation of the impression devices. Fig. 5 is a section of several of the impression wheels, on a plane corresponding to the line y--y, Fig. 3. 1

The base of'the machine, indicated by 1,

is preferably a casting, and is provided with convenient side pieces or standards, as 2, 3, supporting a plate or table 4, the latter being provided with a transverse opening 5, as shown in Fig. 3. In the uprights 6, on the side pieces, are bearings 7, for the shaft 8. The bearings may be of any suitable construction, but are preferably made so as to be adjusted vertically. For such purpose they are, in the embodiment illustrated, fitted to the uprights so as to slide thereon, and are yieldingly supported by springs 9. The adjustment is effected by means of the screws 10, working in the top plates 11, as will be readily understood.

On one end of the shaft is a-crank 12, or other means for rotating the same-and on its central part, between the side pieces, the shaft carries a pair of fixed disks, 13, 14, secured thereto by means of hubs, as 15, Fig. 5. Between the disks are the impression wheels, 16, five being shown in the drawing, but obviously a greater or less number may be used, as desire i. The impression wheels or "diebearing disks are mounted to rotate on the shaft, but only in the direction contrary to that in which they move in the printing operation. For this purpose there is provided on the shaft a ratchet, as 17, for each, and on the disks are spring-pressed pawls, as 18, engaging the ratchets. From an inspection of Fig. 4 it will be seen that by this construction on the shaft,.but must turn with the shaft when the latter is rotated in the printing direction indicated by the arrow in Fig, 3. on the periphery of each disk is a series of raised heavy pressures. The types or dies repretains also a dollar sign and a dash.

- Journaled in the side pieces 2, 3, below the the disk may be revolved counter clockwise.

sent the numerals, l to 0, and each series cor;

t ,es or dies as shown made to withstand l i die-bearing disks, is a shaft 21, carrying a laten 19 having a raised part extending engthwise thereof, and about equal, in width circumferentially of the platen, to the height of one of the types or dies on the disks 16.

The raised part or impression surface 20, co-

acts with the types or dies, so that when the two are revolved upon each other the interposed pa or will be subjected to great pressure. T 1e dies are thereby i'm ressed on the paper with such force as to cave a transucent impression on the paper, resembling a water mark.

For the purpose of'revolving the platen, its shaft is provided with a gear 22 meshing witha gear 23 on the shaft '8, the two gears being so constructed that the disks 16 and. platen 19 rotate with the same peripheral speed.

-Secured to any suitable part of the machine, as for example to the side piece 2, is a pointer or index 24, so located with reference to the type disks 16 that when the latter are revolved by'turning the shaft 8 in the direction of the arrow, 1* ig. 4, the row of characters opposite the pointer will arrive at the printing opening 5 simultaneously with the raised impression surface 20 on the platen 19. It will therefore be seen that the machine may be set to print any desired combination of the numerals by turning the disks 16 on the shaft one after another until the desired combination is formed in line with the index or pointer. For the purpose ,of holding the shaft stationary during this manipulation of the die disks, a yielding stop 25 is provided. This is mounted loosely in a tubular carrier 26, and is provided with ahead 27 abutting against a coil spring 28, which in turn abuts against the removable closure 29. The other end of the stop is conical in form, and fits into a recess in the disk 13. Theshaft 8 is thereby held by the stop with suflicient firmness to prevent its rotating with thetype wheels when they are rotated to bring certain characters into the printing line, but the disk 13 is easily and instantly disengaged when the crank 12 is revolved to effect the printing.

For the purpose of seizing the aper and carrying it between the type whee s and the platen, so that the impression will be'made near the middle of the check, or note, etc,

the platen is provided at its ends With fri0' tion devices or ribs 30, which Cowman thev disks 13, 1.4, and carry the interposedpaperforward as described. These coacting arts may be of such relative diameters that hey merely grasp the paper with suilicientfirmness to earry.it forward, or they may be large enough to bear on the paper withsufiicient pressure to produce an impression,in the samemanner as the typewheels, which serves to indicate on the paper the termination of the number expressing the denomination 01 face value thereof, and to prevent raisin the same by adding additional figures. T e ribs and end disks may thus produce transluent bands, one at each end of the row of characters, across the check or other paper; or one or both of the said disks may be provided with a die in the form of an arbitrary character or mark, as shown in Fig.1, so that the latter will be impressed at the end of the line. In general none will be needed in front purpose there. provided for at all by means of the end disks, such impression or numbers of three digits or less may be made by utilizing the dollar mark or the dash on the right hand type wheel or one of the type wheels preceding the latter. It will be noted that in any case the dashes may be used as blanks where the number of digits in the number to be impressed is less than the number of type wheels.

From the fore oing the operation of the device will be readily understood. The shaft 8 being rotated until the recess in the disk-l3 engages the stop 25, the type Wheels 16-are turned onthe shaft until the desired number also reaches the printing position and the types or dies are then pressed upon the'paper with enormous force, leaving the paper translucent wherever the dies have touched it. It is essential that'the dies on the die wheels be as smooth as possible on their impression surfaces, that is, that they bedevoid of pro'ections or other roughness which would ave the effect of cutting,- embossing or injuring thesurfa'ce of the paper, in any way, as my invention is not intended to emboss or alterthe surface thereof. Its object is to compress the fibers and so produce translucence, resembling somewh at in ap earance a grease mark. The impression so ormed is absolutely permanent, and any attempt to erase or alter it leaves unmistakable evidence of the attem 1;. Moreover the pa er is notinjured, butt e surface remains as efore, and may be written over in the same way as if the'translucent characters had not ,been impressed' t The apparatus herein shown and described,

is of course only one embodiment of my invention, which may lie-embodied in a variety of forms without departure from its proper scrape... hat I claim is: 9

1. In an apparatus for producing watermark-like effects on paper, thecombination of a revoluble shaft, one or more dioWhecls adjustable to bring selecteddies toa given 75 of the row, as the dollar mark serves the same If no terminal impression is mark-like effects on paper, the combination of a shaft, one or more die Wheels adjustable thereon monedirection only, to bring selected dies to a given position relative to the impression point, means for rotating the shaft in the opposite direction, a revoluble platen having an impression surface to coact with the dies on the die Wheels, and aetuating devices. connecting the platen and the die Wheel shaft whereby the impression surface on the platen and the selected dies on the die Wheels Will reach the impression position simultaneously, as set forth.

3. In an apparatus for producin watermark-like effects on paper, the com ination of a revoluble shaft, a pair of disks ri idly mounted thereon, one or more die whee s on the shaft between the disks, said die Wheels being adjustable to bring selected dies to a given position, a yieldin stop engaging one of the disks to hold the shaft stationary during the adjustment of the die Wheels, a platen coacting with the die wheels, and means for rotating the shaftagainst the stop to bring the selected dies on the die wheels to the impression position, as set forth.

4. In an apparatus for producingwatermarklike impressions on paper, the combination of a shaft, a pair of spaced disks rigidly mounted on the shaft, one or more die wheels rotatably mounted on the shaft, means. for permittin rotation of the die wheels in only one LlI'OCtlOIl on the shaft, whereby the said die Wheels rotate with the shaft in the other direction, a yielding sto) engaging one of the disks to'hold the shat yieldmgly against rotation, an index or pointer indicating the line of adjustment of the die Wheels to bring the desired eliaracters to the impression position, a revoluble platen having an impression surface ar ranged to reach the impression position simultaneously with the line of characters on Y dies capable'of withstanding 1 ,m close proximity so as to exerthea the die Wheels indicated by the index or pointer,'adjustable devices enabling the pressure betweenthe die wheels and the platen to be varied, and means for rotating the die wheel shaft and the platen, as set forth.

5. In a machine for producing Watermark-like effects on pa er, the combination of one or morerevolub e die wheels bearing heavy pres sures repeatedly exerted, and aving smooth surfaces; a revoluble platen having a raised impression surface the Width of which is less than; the circumference of the laten and substantially equal to the heig t of individual dies on the die Wheel or Wheels, said surface being smooth and incapable ofindentation by the dies; said platen and die Wheels bein as to exert heavy pressure on paper fed 'between them, whereby the paper under the dies will be highly compressed and translucent characters formed 1n the paper without injury to the surfacethereof; and means for connecting the die wheel or wheels and the platen whereby the impression surface on the latter and the die or dies from which the impression is to be made will coincide at the impression point, as set forth.

arranged in close proximity so 6. In a machine for producing Watermark-like effects on paper, the combination of a shaft; one or more die Wheels adiustable thereon to bring a selected die or dies to a given position relative to the impression point, said dies having smooth surfaces capable ofwithstanding heavy pressures res peatedly exerted; a (Jo-operating platen havmga smooth, rigid, unyielding surfacev incapable of indentation by the dies, said platen and die wheel or wheels being arranged pressure on paper fed between them, W ereby' I the pa er under the dies will'be highl compresse and translucent characters ormed 1n the paper without injury to the surface thereof; and means for holding the die wheel or wheels ri idly on the shaft during the co- 0 oration o the wheel or wheels and the aten to produce the impressions; as set I EDWARD ILGH.

Witnesses: M. LAWSON DYER Si S. DUNIIAM. 

